Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Sunday, June 10, 2012

“Found
By Grace”

Genesis
3:8-15

2nd
Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 5) - B

Sunday,
June 10, 2012United in Christ Lutheran Church

Flint,
Michigan

Rev.
David E. Daniel

The
Old Testament lesson for today tells us the familiar account about an
increasingly unfamiliar but significant matter – a matter of eternal life or
death. Adam and Eve were trying to hide from God. They were hiding from God
because they were afraid. And if God had not searched for them and found them,
Adam and Eve would have forever been lost in sin and doomed to eternal
death.

The
account of the fall into sin is a familiar one. When Adam and Eve chose to
listen to the lies of Satan and eat fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good
and evil, thereby doing what God had commanded them not to do, guilt and shame
came into their lives. They were no longer comfortable in God’s presence. When
they realized that God was in the garden, they hid from Him. It is important to
note that God did not run from them; they ran from God (and Satan went with
them).

I
am reminded of an episode of the television show “Little House on the Prairie,”
or as Laurie likes to call it “Little Disaster on the Prairie.” In this episode,
Albert, the “adopted son” of the Ingalls causes a fire by smoking a pipe in the
basement of the blind school. The fire kills Alice Garvey and Mary’s baby. When
Albert learns that his carelessness is the cause of the fire and the deaths, he
runs away. Charles and Jonathan search for him to bring him home and restore him
in forgiveness. [i] They could have let
Albert go. Charles could have chosen to start over... to cut his losses and
start fresh. But he didn't. He sought after Albert and brought
him home.

God
could have started over, but He didn’t. He approached the couple in hiding and
asked three rhetorical questions, giving them opportunity to confess.
But the LORD God called to the man and said to him, “Where are
you?” And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was
afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” He said, “Who told you that
you were naked?Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not
to eat?” (Genesis 3:9-11)

The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be
with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” Then the LORD God said to
the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent
deceived me, and I ate.” (Genesis 3:12-13)

Adam and Eve offered the first excuses in the
history of the world, but unfortunately they were not the last. People have
learned all too well from their sinful parents. We too are fond of making
excuses. We too are pretty good at ducking responsibility and accountability. We
too can be guilty of blaming others. The sad thing is that none of these
reactions to sin is a solution to sin. We simply stay lost... hopelessly
lost.

God
is not the one who is lost. We are! And this is a serious matter! There are many
today who downplay the seriousness of sin. Sometimes we hear them say, or
perhaps you have said something similar yourself, “Yes, I did that, but at least
I’m not as bad as he is.” But, in his Word, God makes it clear that every sin
offends Him; every sin leads to death. St. Paul reminds us that, “all
have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23) It is
time we take off the mild label by which many refer to sin and put back the
“poison” label, which in fact sin is. It is poison. It wrecks our life on earth.
It destroys our life for eternity.

But
God would not allow sin to have the final word. He intervened in grace with a
solution to sin and its eternal consequences. And just as He reached out to Adam
and Eve, He reaches out to you and me.

It
is so wonderful that we have this text for this Sunday when young Layla Nichole
Meier is baptized into Christ’s Church. Understand that she is included in that
“all” of whom St. Paul speaks.She is like us; in the same boat so to speak. She is a fallen sinner who
cannot save herself, just like you and me. But thanks be to God for His love for
us in Christ Jesus.

Like
Adam and Eve, we have been found in God’s grace. In baptism, He calls us by
name. In Baptism, God confronts the seriousness of sin. In Baptism, God joins us
to the saving work of Jesus; His life, His suffering, His death, His
resurrection. In Baptism, His Spirit gives us faith, forgiveness and life. All
of this is in keeping with His precious promise in the
garden.

The LORD God said to the serpent, “Because you
have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the
field; on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your
life. I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring
and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his
heel.”(Genesis 3:14-15)

It
was there that God vowed to enmity between Satan and the woman. God quickly
demonstrated that He is in control. Almost as soon as sin entered the world, God
revealed His plan to take sin away. He promised to send a Savior to destroy the
devils work.

When
God sent Jesus, the seed of the woman, Satan did not give up. He worked even
harder, as the Gospels make it clear. On the Friday of Jesus’ death, the Friday
we call “Good Friday,” the devil endured his final defeat. The battle that began
with a tree in the garden ended with a tree on Calvary. The serpent struck at
Jesus’ heel, and Jesus cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken
me?” (Matthew 27:46) But then in His dying breath he declared,
“It is finished” (John 19:30), and crushed Satan
forever.

At
the right time... in God’s time... His first promise found fulfillment. Jesus
proved to be the solution to sin and death. He offered Himself as the atoning
sacrifice, taking the sins of Adam and Eve and every human being to the cross.
There He suffered the eternal consequences of our sins, paying the price in full
for all of us.

And
we receive the benefit of His work when we are baptized; just a young Layla was
today. We are connected to Him and called to live our lives according to His
Word.Do we fall short? Yes we do. We do
sin against God and one another. We live in this world with all of its
influences but we are not of this world. When we sin, we are called once again
to repentance. We are called to confess our sins and return to God and
Word.There we receive the Gospel
promise. There we receive His Word of forgiveness, life and
salvation.

This
Gospel promise teaches us to run to God rather than from Him. Whether we are
tempted to take sin lightly or be crushed by guilt and shame, God invites us to
come to Him and receive His love and His peace—not the wrath we deserve. While
young Layla has received the gift of everlasting life and salvation in Christ,
you are also called as her parents, God-parents, and fellow brothers and sisters
in Christ, to teach and encourage her in the Christian
walk.

Jesus
himself commands us, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,”
Many stop there with this
portion of Scripture, but there is more..teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And
behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:19-20
ESV)

God
kept His promise to Adam and Eve, and He will keep the promise He has made to
us; to you, to me, to Layla. God is faithful! He finds us by grace and gives us
eternal life through His Son.

In
Jesus Holy Name, Amen.

[i]May We Make Them Proud, part
2, Little House on the Prairie, Season 6, Episode 19, 1980.